Micro 4 3 Sensor Size

See how much difference there is in the medium full frame aps c and micro 4 3 sensors.

Micro 4 3 sensor size.

The name of the system stems from the size of the image sensor used in the cameras which is commonly referred to as a 4 3 type or 4 3 type sensor. 220 mm is approximately 30 less than the aps c sensors used in other manufacturers dslrs. Before the introduction of mirrorless cameras dslrs were the kings in this field and mainly proposed two sensor sizes. Zeus if you have had the benefit of a full frame sensor it s doubtful you will be happy with low light performance below the aps c sensor size.

The relatively large 4 3 sensor allows micro 4 3 cameras to shoot at high iso speeds with low noise levels and create shallow depth of field with the right lens attached. I have a nikon dslr and it blows the low light performance of my micro 4 3 camera out of the water even using similarly slow glass. When considering buying an advanced camera with interchangeable lenses the choice of the camera sensor size is inevitable. Micro 4 3 s cameras have a larger sensor size than compact digital cameras which will provide you with better image quality but the large sensor will also make macro capability and close focusing more difficult.

There is a common misconception that there is a big difference between the sizes of aps c and micro four thirds sensors. Hasselblad x1d ii 50c sony a7r iv sony a6600 and panasonic gh5. In fact as shown on the left the difference is even smaller than the difference between full size and aps c and the micro four thirds sensor is massive compared to popular compact camera sensors. We compare 4 sensor sizes to see how they compare in print image quality.

Special thanks to our friends at lensprotogo and datacolor for helping us make this comparison possible. Dslr cameras are better at shooting motion while the micro 4 3 s offer longer focal lengths. The common inch based sizing system is derived from vacuum image sensing video camera tubes which are now obsolete the imaging area of a four thirds sensor is equal to that of a video camera tube of 4 3 inch diameter. The image sensor of four thirds and mft measures 18 mm 13 5 mm 22 5 mm diagonal with an imaging area of 17 3 mm 13 0 mm 21 6 mm diagonal comparable to the frame size of 110 film.

For some photographers a micro four thirds sensor size gives a nice optimum for good macro shots. It is around 9 times larger than the 1 2 3 sensors typically used in compact digital cameras.